<p>It's World Diabetes day. It's high time we learn about the disease</p>

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Nov 13, 2009

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November 14 marks the World Diabetes Day. And so, we try to learn everything we can about the disease and how to prevent it. [firstpara]What is diabetes?Diabetes Mellitus, or Diabetes of short, is a metabolism related illness. Metabolism, as you may or may not know, is how our bodies breakdown food and use it for energy. When a person has Diabetes, either his body isn't able to breakdown and use (or produce) the hormone, insulin, properly.

How do I know if I have diabetes?Well, there are a four warning signs you should watch out for: 1. frequent visits to the loo. 2. Excessive weight loss. 3. lack of energy. 4. unbelievable thirst. There are other symptoms, too, like vomiting and stomach pain, which you may mistake as having the flu; numbness or tingling sensation in the hands or feet; blurred vision, frequent infections, and slow-healing wounds.

There are types of diabetes, yes?Yesiroo, you got that right. There are two basic types of Diabetes that are simply called Type 1 and Type 2.

Type 1, which used to be referred to as juvenileonset diabetes, is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. Unfortunately, you cannot prevent this type of diabetes. And you'll need to treat this all your life.

When a person is diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, it only means that his body cannot produce any insulin at all. That is why he needs to take insulin to stay alive.

Type 2, meanwhile, is when the body cannot process the insulin it produces or it doesn’t produce enough of the hormone. Type 2 accounts for over 90% of the total number of Diabetics worldwide.

There is another kind, Gestational diabetes, but it’s less prevalent than the two and occurs only with women. Gestational diabetes is when the glucose levels of women, who aren’t diabetic to begin with, shoot up during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women. There is little symptoms and it usually disappears when she’s given birth.